Day, Alison (2015) Planning for chaos : developing the concept of emergency preparedness through the experience of the paramedic. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis aimed to develop an understanding of the concept of emergency preparedness through the lived experiences of paramedics, utilising an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) methodology.

Emergency preparedness is a developing speciality, with a limited evidence base. Current research is mainly atheoretical, with the majority of literature comprising of anecdotal reports, government guidance, clinical protocols, audit and clinical policy. The published literature offers little more than opinion and a retrospective view of experience, with few studies examining and understanding the individual lived experience within this area.

To address the identified gaps in the literature and in line with the idiographic focus of IPA, thirteen paramedics were recruited and face-to-face interviews explored their individual experiences of emergency preparedness. Through data analysis, the following superordinate themes were identified for further discussion:- self determination, control and experience-based practice.

Participants appeared to value their role and the unpredictable environment that they worked in. Personal resilience, an area that they suggested is not covered effectively within individual preparation, was viewed as important. The participants articulated that risk, threat, uncertainty, safety, trust and control were important concepts within individual preparedness. These paramedics valued practice-based knowledge and education as credible and transferrable to their clinical work. Additionally, storytelling appeared as a preferred method of conveying knowledge in an area with minimal real-life experience.

Dimensions of individual preparedness are presented, with the paramedic central to the experience within a conceptual model (the DiEP model), creating a new form of emergency preparedness that reflects the individual paramedic’s experience.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Emergency medical technicians, Emergency management
Official Date:	September 2015
Dates:	Date Event September 2015 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Warwick Medical School
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Staniszewska, Sophie ; Bullock, Ian
Sponsors:	Coventry University
Extent:	464 leaves
Language:	eng

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